Summary

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Organized WarDriving has progressed significantly over the course of the past two years. What started as an ad-hoc, very unorganized effort by a few people to get together and WarDrive one city has evolved into user communities and worldwide events. The DefCon WarDriving contests initially provided a competitive environment for WarDrivers to display their skills and strategies. These contests gave way to the WorldWide WarDrive.

The WorldWide WarDrive provides a constructive, organized way for WarDrivers to help get the word out to the general public that wireless networks are not secure using out-of-the-box configurations. The press coverage that these events have generated has helped to relay the message to end users. By providing the public with information about both the state of wireless security worldwide, as well as information on how to secure access points, the WWWD has helped to improve the overall state of wireless security over the course of the past two years.

While the goal of improving wireless security is a noble one, it is not the only goal of organized WarDriving. Getting together with other people that share your interests is fun. To increase the effectiveness and enjoyment of the WarDrive, it’s important for the organizer to plan out the area that will be driven. It is also a good idea to have some type of social event associated with the WarDrive. A class for people that are new to the hobby prior to the actual WarDrive is a great way to do this. While after the WarDrive, organizing a get together (a cookout, meeting at a local restaurant, and so on) is a great way for people to talk about the hobby as well. The Chicago WorldWide WarDrive organizers have perfected this.

In addition to the social aspect of organized WarDriving, people who participate in organized WarDrives get the opportunity to share their experiences and discuss improvements in the technology. They also get to share tips and tricks they have learned with each other. As this information is shared and more people become aware of technological advances, the wireless community can’t help but benefit.

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